| On this date in: |
| 1649 |
England’s King Charles I was beheaded. |
| 1882 |
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y. |
| 1883 |
James Ritty and John Birch received a U.S. patent for the first cash register. |
| 1933 |
The first episode of the “Lone Ranger” was broadcast on radio station WXYZ in Detroit. |
| 1948 |
Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi was murdered by a Hindu extremist. |
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| AP Photo |
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| 1968 |
The Tet offensive began as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese provincial capitals. |
| 1969 |
The Beatles performed in public for the last time in a 45-minute gig on the roof of their Apple Records headquarters in London. |
| 1972 |
Thirteen Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.” |
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| AP Photo |
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| 2003 |
Richard Reid, a British citizen and al-Qaida follower, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in Boston for trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes. |
| 2005 |
Iraqis voted in their country’s first free election in a half-century. |
| 2006 |
Coretta Scott King, the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died at age 78. |
| 2007 |
Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system went on sale. |
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| Today’s Birthdays: |
| King Abdullah II of Jordan turns 55 years old today. |
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| AP Photo/Yves Logghe |
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|
| Name |
Profession |
Age |
| Dorothy Malone |
Actress |
92 |
| Harold Prince |
Producer, director |
89 |
| Gene Hackman |
Actor |
87 |
| Tammy Grimes |
Actress |
83 |
| Vanessa Redgrave |
Actress |
80 |
| Dick Cheney |
Former vice president |
76 |
| Marty Balin |
Rock singer (Jefferson Airplane/Starship) |
75 |
| Phil Collins |
Rock singer, musician (Genesis) |
66 |
| Brett Butler |
Actress, comedian (“Grace Under Fire”) |
59 |
| Jody Watley |
R&B singer |
58 |
| Norbert Leo Butz |
Actor |
50 |
| Christian Bale |
Actor (“The Dark Knight,” “Batman Begins”) |
43 |
| Carl Broemel |
Rock musician (My Morning Jacket) |
43 |
| Wilmer Valderrama |
Actor (“That ’70s Show”) |
37 |
| Marcus Mumford |
Rock singer, musician (Mumford and Sons) |
30 |
| Actor Charles S. Dutton turns 66 years old today. |
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